American Addiction Centers Blog
Loneliness and Addiction: Is There a Link?
September 13, 2023
What Is Loneliness? Humans have an innate need to feel like they belong. Loneliness, then, is an emotional state typically defined by painful feelings associated with a sense of isolation and/or a lack of social contact or belonging.1 Loneliness and social isolation, however, are two different things. The latter is simply a lack of human […]
How Substance Abuse Treatment Varies by State: Substances Used, Dropouts, and More Unfortunately, many individuals across the world struggle with substance misuse. It’s no small problem. In fact, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimated that 19.7 million American adults dealt with a substance use disorder in 2017. Millions of adolescents struggle as well. […]
Substance use in the food service industry is a habit thought to be, albeit stereotypically, commonplace by many Americans. The high stress, often late-night work conditions fuel an environment where substance use is viewed as more socially acceptable than in other workplaces. With over 5 million restaurant jobs available in the United States, we decided this was […]
Across America, perhaps no one single group of people sacrifice more for their country than the armed service members – both active duty and retired veterans who at some point in their lives were willing to give up everything to protect and defend their nation. At the same time, the suicide rate among American veterans has increased by […]
College campuses are busier than ever. With midterms and finals fast approaching, college students’ stress levels are skyrocketing. It isn’t just during these weeks, though, that students experience high levels of stress. In 2017, 45 percent of college students reported high levels of stress and that is only considering students who sought help from counselors. Between 2010 […]
A Look at Marijuana Busts Across the U.S. Earlier this summer, Illinois became the most recent state to legalize recreational marijuana – and this is just the latest of many feats made by the marijuana legalization movement. Since Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational cannabis use back in 2012, 9 other states have […]
From rockers’ drug-fueled debauches to rappers’ commitment to cannabis, popular music and substance use have long been linked. But whereas fans once discerned drug use from lyrics and live appearances, social media has brought new visibility to pop stars’ partying. Whether sipping champagne in the club or smoking weed in their studios, performers are now willing and able […]
Addiction is a force that has gripped the US and drags people of all backgrounds down with it. While drugs pose a threat in virtually every community throughout the country overall, there are places where illicit substances are less common and rates of abuse are lower. In this study, our team analyzed data for 51 […]
We’d like to think that everyone realizes the dangers of drinking and driving nowadays, and with the advent of readily-available rideshare services used by a third of Americans, we hope that people are now deciding to leave their car at home if they are going out drinking. To find out whether this was the case, we […]
Stories of recreational drug use gone wrong have held an increasingly large presence in news headlines as of late. Reports of celebrity overdoses and about the opioid crisis seem to be staples in the day’s top news regardless of the day of the week. Pop culture has a history of normalizing drug use and, as […]
It has been recently estimated that there were more than 72,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2017 – a rise of roughly 10 percent from the year prior. While that number may be staggering, statistics often fall short when trying to reach us on an emotional level; it’s difficult to grasp the gravity of life lost […]
For many employers, a part of the hiring process includes a drug test to ensure their employees are not under the influence of illegal drugs. Additionally, regular drug screenings help ensure that employees are not placing themselves or any of their colleagues at risk by using illicit substances. Many of these companies include this information […]
Technology has changed many aspects of our day to day life, and one area that has been very affected is dating. More and more people are turning to online dating services and apps to find the perfect someone. In fact, a recent survey found that 1 in 4 people have used or are currently using […]
